Love Turns to Hatred
by I Will Not Follow
Summary: Everyone's family has secrets, but Mara's holds more than anyone could imagine. She's haunted by a traumatic experience that happened a few years ago, and no one knows about it. Luckily, the one girl who finds out about it is the best at keeping secrets. New friendships will be forged, but others will be forgotten, causing a lot of drama that no one needs or deserves.


__Beep... Beep... Beep...

_Five-year-old Mara Jaffray clings desperately to her father's hand. Her shoulders shake with sobs as tears rapidly fall down her cheeks. She flinches when his hand reaches out to tuck a piece of her long, raven-black hair behind her ear. Her father smiles sadly, and Mara tries to smile back. Just for him._

_But she fails miserably._

_"Don't cry, Mara," he whispers softly as he gently strokes his daughter's hair. "When you cry, it makes me want to cry."_

_Mara sniffles and opens her mouth to speak, but all that comes out is a choked sob. She shifts uncomfortably in the chair perched right beside her father's bed, trying to find a suitable position. She finally curls up in defeat, still holding on to her father's hand._

_"I don't want you to go, Daddy," she whimpers. Using her free hand, she nervously twists a lock of her hair around her finger._

_Francis Jaffray nods understandingly. "I know, sweetie, I know. But this is what's best for Daddy. Daddy is going where he needs to be."_

_"Don't you wanna be here with me, Daddy?" Mara asks, a look of pure innocence on her face. "And Mummy, too? Don't you wanna be here with us?"_

_A round of coughs racks Francis, and he knows he only has a few minutes left. "Of co-course I do. Bu-But Daddy needs to be where he needs to be."_

_It was difficult, explaining to a five-year-old why you're dying, and where you're going. You see, Francis Jaffray was diagnosed with cancer, and today was his last living day on Earth. Of course, Mara didn't know that. She was in for a terrible surprise._

_"Where did yo-your Mummy go, Mara?" Francis asks desperately._

_Mara slightly scoots away away from her father, but her hand remains in the same position. She has never heard her father use that tone, but she answers, anyway. "She went downstairs."_

_Francis sighs; she probably wouldn't make it back upstairs in time. He pulls Mara closer, and Mara obeys. She leans forward slightly, and, using the last of his strength, he picks himself up to kiss her cheek and whisper hoarsely, "I love you."_

_And then he falls back onto the bed, limp and lifeless._

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep...

_Mara lets out a shrill scream, jumping back from the bed and pulling her hand away. Nurses and doctors rush in, crowding around her father's bed until Mara can't see him anymore. A young woman with a look of grief on her face picks Mara up and carries her to the door._

_"NO! LET ME GO!" Mara shrieks, pounding her tiny fists on the woman's back. "LET GO OF ME!"_

_Eventually, Mara gave up when she realized the nurse wasn't going to let go of her anytime soon. She watches all the action inside the hospital room as the woman carries her away, farther and farther from her now-deceased father. She stares with an empty look in her eyes until tears blur her vision entirely._

_Filled with sadness and anger, she screams out, "DADDY!"_

* * *

_Mara refrains from letting out a frustrated sigh as her mother smoothes out the imaginary wrinkles in Mara's black-and-white polkadot dress. Her mother stops smoothing out Mara's dress, only to start fiddling with the white ribbon tied into her hair._

_"Mummy, it's fine," Mara complains. She steps back and twirls around to prove her point._

_"I know it is, sweetie, but you need to look perfect," Lily Jaffray frets, shaking her head in a way that makes Mara feel insecure._

_Mara allows herself to let out a sigh. Only this time, it was one of annoyance, not frustration. "Nobody's perfect, Mummy."_

_Her mother scoffs in disgust. "Ugh, have you been listening to that vulgar singer? What's her name? Manna Hontana?"_

_Mara was about to retort something, but is saved by the doorbell. Her mother smiles wanly and rushes downstairs. Mara stomps her foot in slight anger and takes her time to get to the stairs. She tries to walk down, but gets annoyed at the amount of effort, and results to crawling down._

_"If only Daddy were here," Mara muttered. "He'd make everything better."_

_Not wanting to anger her mum by being even the tiniest bit of a second late, Mara crawls down as fast as she possibly can. She gets to the bottom step and stands up just as her mum opens the door. A tall, well-built man with military-style dark brown hair and dark brown eyes stands at the door. He smiles at Mara's mom as she comes into view. His gaze lands on Mara, and she instantly feels a sharp pang of anger for reasons unknown._

_"Mara, this is Alex," Lily says. She stares expectantly at Mara for a moment, then glares at her. Mara then realizes her mistake._

_"Nice to meet you." Mara gives him a fake smile. She hopes that he didn't detect the venom in her words._

_A young girl appears from behind Alex's leg. She has straight, light brown hair and amber eyes. Alex notices her as well. He gently pushes the girl in front of him. When the girl still doesn't say anything, he sighs and explains, "This is Kristen. She's my daughter and she's four years old. How old are you, Mara?"_

_Mara looks down at her feet and replies, "Seven."_

_Alex steps inside and Kristen hesitantly follows. Mara's mom closes the door just as the oven dings. She smiles and states, "Dinner's ready."_

_Mara leads Alex and Kristen to the dining table. Mara scrambles onto her seat as Alex helps Kristen onto hers. Lily puts plates and utensils in front of them. She walks over to the oven, then comes back with a platter of chicken. She cuts off a piece then puts it on Mara's plate, then on Alex's plate, then on Kristen's plate. She sits down next to Mara, serves herself, and then begins to eat._

_Mara eats her chicken slowly. They eat in a comfortable silence. Well, comfortable for the rest of them; it's very awkward for Mara. Mara almost shrieks when she feels her mother's hand on her back, pushing her up. She flinches when she hears her mother hiss into her ear, "Stop slouching. It isn't lady-like."_

_Mara internally sighs then returns to eating. After dinner, she and Kristen go to Mara's room while Alex and Lily talk in the kitchen._

_"This is your room?" Kristen asks haughtily, looking around at everything with distaste._

_Mara grits her teeth and carefully answers, "Yes."_

_"It's not very colourful," Kristen notes, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. She starts to play with her rainbow-colored fingernails in boredom. Mara suppresses to urge to yell at the top of her lungs; for a four-year-old, Kristen had quite a choice with words. Not to mention the fact Mara had never met a brat as annoying as Kristen._

_They stand in silence for a while before Mara announces, "Well, I'm going to go get water."_

_Mara silently crawls down the stairs, and suddenly stops when she hears Lily and Alex's distraught voices._

_"I'm trying to get full custody over her," Alex explains. "Her mother is a maniac."_

_"Lori certainly does sound like a monster," her mother agrees. "I'll support you in any way I can."  
_

_They talk for a little while longer while Mara eavesdrops. Mara doesn't understand anything they are saying. She crawls back upstairs, her water forgotten._

_... A few hours later..._

_Mara collapses on the couch downstairs and buries her head in a pillow. She can still hear her mother shouting goodbye as Kristen and Alex got into their car. About a minute later, the front door closes, and Lily plops down next to Mara._

_"So, how did you like them?" Lily asks, causing Mara's head to snap up._

_"I beg your pardon?" Mara mumbles, rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes._

_Lily smiles patiently and repeats, "Did you like Alex and Kristen?"_

_Mara is about to go on and on about how she didn't like Alex and couldn't believe how much snootiness could be inside one little four-year-old. That is, until she sees the look on her mother's face. A look of hope and happiness. Mara is at war with her heart and mind. Her mind wants to scream at her mom about how Alex is bad for both of them, but her heart is urging Mara to pretend to like them, just so the look on her mother's face would stay._

_Mara gathers the littlest bit of calmness left inside of her and replies, "Oh, they're fine."_

_Her mum sighs in relief. "Okay, good. They're probably going to be around for a while, you know?"_

_Mara nods hesitantly and looks down at her feet. She is startled, to say the least, when she feels her mum's arms wrap around her in a gentle embrace. Mara buries her face into her mum's shoulder, blinking the tears at the corner of her eyes away. "You know I'll do anything for you, right? If you don't like them, please just tell me."_

_"No, Mummy, I like them," Mara promises, though she knows that she's lying to her mum and to herself._

_They stayed in that position for a while, Lily stroking Mara's hair, while Mara fiercely blinks back tears. After a while, Lily pulls back and stands up, while Mara notices the tears falling down her cheeks. "I'm tired, baby girl. Do you mind if I go to bed now and don't tuck you in?"_

_Mara jumps up, gives her mum a quick kiss on the cheek, and gently pushes her toward the staircase. Lily looks down at her daughter and gives her a watery smile. "Good night."_

_Lily ruffles Mara's hair affectionately and treks up the stairs. Mara skips to the kitchen to get her long-awaited glass of water. After getting a glass of ice-cold water, Mara returns upstairs to her room. She easily drains her glass of water and goes to the bathroom._

_When Mara comes back, she finds a note on her bed. Confused, she picks up the note and easily reads it. By the end of the note, her blood has already ran cold and she drops the note in shock. An icy chill runs repeatedly up and down her spine. The words are not meant to be understood by a seven-year-old, but Mara knows better. With trembling fingers, she picks up the note and carries it to her bathroom. She drops the note into the sink and turns the water on. Mara watches with interest as the ink slides off the paper and into the pool of water gathered at the base of the sink. The water turns from clear, to grey, and, finally, to black. The words have long since faded from the paper, but they have already permanently etched themselves into Mara's mind:_

**_He will be your downfall._**

* * *

**A/N: Hello, everyone! How have you guys been? Me? My grades have been better; they're going up. Fortunately, math class isn't too hard this year. At least I finally get to dissect something this year. If I wanna be a medical examiner when I grow up, I'll have to learn how to deal with it. :P ****_  
_**

**So, the first few chapters of this story will be from Mara's memory. I'm predicting the fourth chapter is when it will go back to the present time. This story is slightly AU, since Mara's dad doesn't die in the show. By the way, the chapters 1 and 2 are based on my life. Except my dad didn't die of cancer, and I didn't get a mysterious note. O.o**

**Next up on Love Turns to Hatred:**

_"Do you, Lily Annemarie Jaffray, take Alexander Nicholas Thompson, to be your husband?"_

_"But it's the last thing I have left to remember him by!"_

_"You will never replace my dad, Alex! You will never compare to him!" _

_"Of course you don't. You never believe me."__" _

_"Why can't you act like a proper young lady for once?"_

_"I'm a burden, Alyssa. I can't live like this anymore."_

_"Me? Priceless? More like worthless."_

**Note: All these things were said at least once in my lifetime. Even the first and third line, except with different names.**

**Stay tuned! :)**

**P.S: The sequel to 391 Miles Until the End will be out soon! Look for it, but I probably won't be able to tell you the name for it until the next chapter, since I can't think of one. :P **


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